Primoz Roglic wins at mountain finish and becomes first Vuelta a España leader
Oct 20 2020 11:52 pm CET
Photo of Primoz Roglic by Jumbo-Visma
Jumbo-Visma's Primoz Roglic has taken the victory of the first stage in the Vuelta a España. The winner of the 2019 edition of the race was the first one to cross the finish line of the first mountain finale of the competition.
The Spanish grand tour started with a very demanding 173-kilometre route that featured three climbs of the third category and a mountain finish on a first category ascent. The escape of the day was formed by five men and included names like Tim Wellens (Lotto Soudal) and Jetse Bol (Burgos BH), among others.
In the pack there were crashes of men like Mathias Frank (AG2R La Mondiale), Ilan van Wilder (Sunweb) and Daniel Martinez (EF Pro Cycling) and the first two were forced to withdraw. With 24 kilometres the last of the escapees was caught and Ineos Grenadiers took control of the pace during the penultimate climb, setting such a high rhythm that it left Chris Froome struggling behind along with other important GC riders like Thibaut Pinot.
During the last climb, Ivan Sosa set a high pace but soon after Jumbo-Visma's Sepp Kuss launched an attack that broke even more the front pack and left behind riders like Tom Dumoulin and Alejandro Valverde. The American remained in front with riders like Primoz Roglic, Richard Carapaz, Felix Grossschartner, Daniel Martin and Esteban Chaves.
With 1.4 kilometres to go, Hugh Carthy (EF Pro Cycling) launched an attack that was followed by the others but metres laters, Roglic changed the pace and went away from his companions. The Slovenian crossed the finish line and took the lead of the General Classification, continuing the spell of 2019 when he won the race.
REPORT: Primoz Roglic wins at mountain finish and becomes first Vuelta a España leader https://t.co/AaTIfMUT17@JumboVismaRoad @rogla #LaVuelta20
— CyclingPub (@CyclingPub) October 20, 2020
?©?Photogomez Sport pic.twitter.com/90q44QrTx2
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